Merry Halloween! Tis a wonderful season filled with much warm fearpee and the grave isn’t always the final resting spot. The #SetTheVCR recommendations are coming…from inside the house!
Monday, October 03
Schitt’s Creek: Season 1-6 (Anytime / Hulu)
Hulu has acquired the U.S. Streaming Rights for all 6 seasons thus leaving Netflix up…Schitt’s Creek.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: FLIGHT/RISK (ANYTIME / PRIME VIDEO)
Follows everyday people who find themselves in the midst of a global tragedy when two Boeing 737 Max planes crashed only five months apart in 2018 and 2019.
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So, I didn’t watch Frontline’s Boeing’s Fatal Flaw in 2021. However, I’m curious about Flight/Risk. I never understood nor accepted the “Self-Driving Cars Crash All The Time” narrative. How do airlines handle horrible mishaps? Why is flying an “acceptable risk” but suddenly self-driving cars are all risk?? Accidents are inevitable and unfortunately the only way to avoid the loss of life is to adapt and learn from accidents. Like logically. Is there another way for us to progress without the awful loss of life? It’s all so messy and “evil” corporations in the middle of that steep learning curve doesn’t help either. “This documentary is told through the perspective of affected family members, their legal teams and whistleblowers” as two Boeing 737 Max planes crashed only five months apart in 2018 and 2019. What happened? And why did it happen? Like flying safely and self-driving cars…what are we willing to risk for the truth?
Tuesday, October 04
Ghostbusters (1984) (11:30 a.m. / Freeform)
Three parapsychologists forced out of their university funding set up shop as a unique ghost removal service in New York City, attracting frightened yet skeptical customers.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: BLUMHOUSE’S COMPENDIUM OF HORROR (ANYTIME / EPIX ON DEMAND)
This five-part docuseries is the definitive retrospective on the horror genre from the company regarded as the driving force in the horror renaissance.
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I highly recommend The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time currently airing on Shudder. However, there’s a new docuseries in the ghost town Compendium of Horror! 5 episodes covering “iconic cinematic horror moments from the 1930s until today” as narrated by Robert Englund. Looks like creepy fun. Like Shudder’s 101 Scariest you know everybody in this. A bonus of actively consuming horror movies are the debates: there’s the “that wasn’t scary at all!” debate, there’s the “this movie/scene gave me night terrors debate!” and more. Both these docuseries allow us to reflect on this incredible genre which has giving us so many thrills, chill and blood spills.
Wednesday, October 05
Reginald the Vampire: Season 1 (10 p.m. / Syfy)
Imagine a world populated by beautiful, fit and vain vampires. Programming Note: For Canadians this’ll be streaming on Prime Video on October 6.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: CHUCKY: SEASON 2 (9 p.m. / SYFY & SHOWCASE)
An idyllic American town is thrown into chaos after a vintage Good Guy doll turns up at a suburban yard sale.
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Curious because I dunno how this can come and play…out: like the murderous doll is gonna kill people for 10 episodes?! Indeed, that’s what unfolded over Season 1. This TV show serves as a sequel to Cult of Chucky, the seventh film in the Child’s Play franchise. Brad Dourif is the voice of Chucky and Tiffany Valentine, Chucky’s former lover and partner in crime is also back. A Season 1 recap: “After a vintage Chucky doll turns up at a suburban yard sale, an idyllic American town is thrown into chaos as a series of horrifying murders begin to expose the town’s hypocrisies and secrets.” Well: that makes sense. Are you gonna Chuck-y out Season 2?
Thursday, October 06
A Friend of the Family: Limited Series (Anytime / Peacock)
This 9 episode series is based on the harrowing true story of the Broberg family, whose daughter Jan was kidnapped multiple times over a period of years by a charismatic, obsessed family “friend.” (Programming Note: This’ll be on Showcase in Canada on Monday, October 17 at 9 p.m.)
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: MR. HARRIGAN’S PHONE (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)
When Mr. Harrigan dies, the teen who befriended and did odd jobs for him, puts his smart phone in his pocket before burial and when the lonely youth leaves his dead friend a message, he is shocked to get a return text.
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Mr. Harrigan’s Phone. Sigh: a Stephen King book to movie so there’s little hope this’ll be any good but let’s see and hope the filmmakers…didn’t phone it in. Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is from King’s latest collection of novellas and short stories If It Bleeds released in 2020. Harrigan was my favourite in that collection; and one of the best of King’s short works. When Mr. Harrigan a reclusive billionaire dies Craig, a young boy finds he’s still able to supernaturally communicate via well…Mr. Harrigan’s Phone. Let the battle of phone tag begin: over on Peacock you can enjoy The Black Phone by Joe Hill; King’s son and now you can see what the old Dad does with this…phone. Which phone movie from the King family is…off the hook?
Friday, October 07
MLB Playoffs 2022 Begin! (Various Times / ESPN)
Starting today with the NL Wild Card Game and the AL Wild Card Game…the MLB Playoffs commerce with the World Series begins on Friday, October 28 on Fox. Who’ll be great this October?
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE MIDNIGHT CLUB: SEASON 1 (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)
At a hospice with a mysterious history, the eight members of the Midnight Club meet each night at midnight to tell sinister stories – and to look for signs of the supernatural from the beyond.
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Mike Flanagan adapts Christopher Pike. So, there’s some classic horror pedigree. And shockingly for Flanagan he’s not using the same cast, though you’ll recognize Heather Langenkamp. (Which is great since this series takes place in 1994; the same year Wes Craven’s New Nightmare was released.) And yes, as you can tell from the cast’s youthfulness and Pike’s work this is a YA series (Midnight Mass is for the grown-ups while Midnight Club is for the kids). The Pike stories adapted for this are Witch, Gimme A Kiss, Road To Nowhere, The Wicked Heart and more. Still, it’s Mike Flanagan so…are you going to join The Midnight Club? Because after all: Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Saturday, October 08
Bring It On: Cheer Or Die (9 p.m. / Syfy)
Talk about “Spirit Halloween,” here is the Bring It On as a horror movie. Yes! While I enjoy Bring It On; I happily skipped the 5 direct-to-video sequels. This I’ll see; to quote the first movie: “She puts the whore in horrifying.” Was that foreshadowing?!
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE REDEEM TEAM (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)
After their shocking performance at the 2004 Olympics, the US men’s basketball team seeks redemption as they pursue Gold at the 2008 Beijing Games.
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Prior to the 1992 Olympics, FIBA rules prevented NBA players from participating in Olympic tournaments. And so only amateurs were eligible for the U.S. Olympic basketball teams; typically, college kids were drafted with mixed success. In 1989 FIBA changed the rule and that lead to the greatest basketball team of all time: The 1992 Dream Team. The Dream Team won by an average of 43.8 points; they not quite literally but pretty close destroyed the international competition. However, though the roster of the American national basketball team would evolve; just like a typical NBA team (Jordan has to retire eventually, right?) the hubris remained the same. American players believed they could walk into any gym and destroy international teams. By 2004 US was handily defeated by Puerto Rico and that team was dubbed The Nightmare Team (you know…the opposite of “Dream” Team.). It didn’t get better…the international talents improved helping the Americans to adjust their erroneous attitude. Until 2008…Dream Team V or The Redeem Team. This is the story of how Americans shook off their slump and got back on top. Revenge is one of the best American exports.
Sunday, October 09
The Simpsons: Season 33 (Anytime / Disney+)
Season 33 of The Simpsons premiered on September 26, 2021, with The Star of the Backstage and concluded with Poorhouse Rock on May 22, 2022. Voices include Michael Rapaport to The Weeknd to Hugh Jackman and more. Today it’s been added to Disney+.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: WEREWOLF BY NIGHT (ANYTIME / DISNEY+)
A secret group of monster hunters gather at Bloodstone Castle following the death of their leader and engage in a mysterious and deadly competition for a powerful relic, which will bring them face to face with a dangerous monster.
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Welcome Jack Russell aka Werewolf by Night to the MCU. Back in early September during D23 Expo Marvel Studios released trailers and details about upcoming TV shows and specials including: Werewolf By Night. Yes, a Marvel werewolf. (If you’ve never heard of Werewolf By Night then know it was in his comic book series; issue 32 in 1975…that was the first appearance of Moon Knight.) This is a one hour special; though Disney+ has classified it as a comedy…which kinda defeats the whole Werewolf by Night shtick. Your classic horror movie though…monster hunters, a creepy castle, a powerful relic and a creature…so hideous he can only be called a Man-Thing.
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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.
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